Personally, i disagree. She didn't do anything wrong. The student took her personal property. I think the school is going to have a big fight on their hands from the Union and this will cost the school district $$$.
While I think the student should be arrested for theft, invasion of privacy, and all that comes with it, teachers, and people in particular careers where they have an impact on children, are held to a higher standard of care with regards to their behavior. Or at least they should be. Carrying around nude selfies on themselves to school does not meet that standard, IMO.
It's her personal property. We all have a lot of personal info on our phones. It's no different than getting into someone's wallet to steal their cc or money. While i wouldn't think it smart to have nude photos of yourself on your phone, I don't think this should result in her being fired.
While I think the student should be arrested for theft, invasion of privacy, and all that comes with it, teachers, and people in particular careers where they have an impact on children, are held to a higher standard of care with regards to their behavior. Or at least they should be. Carrying around nude selfies on themselves to school does not meet that standard, IMO.
Well what is that standard now? There are teachers with tattoos, live in lovers, and on and on. It's funny how what used to be a moral outrage is now a shrug and now we have turned other things into moral outrages. It seems all pretty hypocritical. If she was viewing them at school, showed them to a student or sent them, then yes, that is a line that is crossed. But, in this case no. It seems like a lot of things aren't a big deal until someone decides that this one thing is a big deal.
It's funny though, the person who should be held to the highest standards would seemingly be the Potus. But, affairs and BJ's in the Oral Office, no problem! So, really until you want to hold your leaders to these standards, stop beating up teachers making 30K a year.
Student, 16, who stole his teacher's phone, posted her nude photos online and 'forced her to resign' is charged - but the school now blames HER for the whole incident
Leigh Anne Arthur, 33, was forced to resign from her job after a pupil, 16, shared nude photos from her phone while she was out of the room
Thousands of people have signed a petition asking for her to be reinstated
Petition was started by three students who say she was unfairly treated because the pupil involved has yet to be punished
School district chiefs have hit back at Arthur, saying she lied in interviews
They say students were routinely given unsupervised access to her phone
David Eubanks, interim superintendent of the Union Schools District, also said she should have been supervising the class at the time
Published: 21:13 EST, 4 March 2016 | Updated: 01:53 EST, 5 March 2016
45
View comments
A high school student who went through his teacher's cellphone, found a nude picture of her and posted it online has been charged with a computer crime and voyeurism, while the teacher, Leigh Anne Arthur, is being attacked by the school district.
Union Public Safety Department Chief Sam White said the student, who is being charged as a juvenile, was taken into custody at Union High School without incident.
The 16-year-old is charged with a count of violating the state's computer crime act in the second degree and a count of aggravated voyeurism.
Meanwhile, the superintendent David Eubanks has said it was the teacher's fault the photo was stolen and posted because she left her students unattended during a four-minute break between classes.
Scroll down for video
+6
Leigh Anne Arthur has quit her job teaching mechanical and electrical engineering and computer programming after a student, 16, took her phone and shared nude photos of her online. On Friday the student was charged with a computer crime and voyeurism
+6
David Eubanks, interim superintendent of the Union Schools District, hit out at Arthur, accusing her of lying about the incident and saying she should have been supervising the class
+6
Arthur said she was in the hallway greeting students as they entered class which the school requires (Union High School above)
Eubanks, interim superintendent of the Union Schools District, hit out at Arthur, accusing her of lying, saying; 'It is my understanding that one student has been charged with the crime of transmitting pornographic material using electronic media.
'The exact charges have not been provided to the school district by local police who have been involved with this incident from the start. The student will now also face possible expulsion from the school District.
'It is truly unfortunate that a teacher charged with proper supervision and care of students failed to fulfill that responsibility in her classroom.
'Evidence indicates that Leigh Anne Arthur was not in her assigned position at the time of the incident.
'Evidence also indicates that she allowed students to use her personal cell phone on a regular and routine basis.
'Evidence also indicates that the phone was routinely left on her desk for student use and was never locked.
'Ms. Arthur has used the media to transmit false information obviously intended for the purpose of deflecting the incident totally to students. The evidence available, points to the extent of her false statements.
'Her failure to supervise her students along with allowing students routine access to her personal cell phone constitute an evident unfitness for Ms. Arthur to continue as a classroom teacher.
'We are not aware of charges that may be filed against Ms. Arthur. We do know that her failure to properly supervise students entrusted to her care will negatively impact the lives of students and their parents.'
Arthur said she was in the hallway greeting students as they came in to the class, and has only ever let her nephew use her phone at school.
Share
87 shares
The student is being held in juvenile detention for a hearing in family court. There have been no other arrests, but the investigation is continuing, the chief said.
Officials said it's not clear how many people may have seen the social media postings of the photo.
Arthur has quit her job teaching mechanical and electrical engineering and computer programming at the school's vocational center.
Arthur, 33, told police on February 18 that while she stepped out of her classroom, a boy took her unlocked smartphone from her desk, opened the photos application and found a nude selfie she had taken for her husband as a Valentine's Day present.
As of late Friday, almost 12,000 people had signed an online petition urging school district officials in the community in northwestern South Carolina to give Arthur her job back.
+6
Rebuttal: Arthur (above) said she was in the hallway greeting students as they came in to the class, and has only ever let her nephew use her phone at school
+6
Nearly 12,000 have signed the petition (above) which calls for Arthur to return to the Union County Career and Technology Center, saying she was forced out despite her privacy being invaded
+6
School district officials have hit back, accusing Arthur of lying in her statements, saying students were routinely given unsupervised access to her cell phone
The voyeurism charge makes it illegal, for the purpose of sexual gratification, to record or make a digital file of another person without his or her consent.
The computer crimes charge makes it illegal to take possession or deprive the owner of a computer of computer data.
Both charges are misdemeanors for a first offense, but if the teen is convicted on both counts he could be sentenced to a maximum fine of $10,500 and four years in prison.
Students Jacob Barnett, Josh Sinclair and Matthew Caldwell said Arthur was pressured to leave her job despite her privacy being invaded.
Speaking via email, Jacob Barnett said on Thursday: 'There is an unspoken rule of the classroom; everyone knows it, don't touch what's on the teacher's desk, or anything that belongs to anyone else.
'Her phone is her private property, and whatever is on it is her business.'
The petition adds: 'Leigh Anne Arthur is the victim of a blatant attack of her privacy. Personal photographs were illegally obtained by a student and were sent to other students in the school.
'After being escorted off of school property, we (the students) are left to believe that she has been forced to, or given little choice but to resign.
'Mrs. Arthur has not only shown tremendous dedication to her students, but also the mechatronics program itself, often reaching out to local businesses and colleges to get materials that would not normally be available for the class.
'With that being said, the student(s) responsible have not received any sort of punishment. The circumstances in which Mrs.Arthur was let go is unacceptable, and must be corrected.'
Arthur also claimed the student involved, who she has identified but chose not to name, had a grudge against her, telling her 'your day of reckoning is coming' before sharing the pictures.
Oh, BS. The student clearly stole the photo and published it on a public media forum.
Your cell phone is no different then your billfold.
If it is not yours, keep your hands off. Otherwise, you are stealing, period.
I was just going to say this. They are saying it's her fault since she left it unsupervised. If they stole her purse would it still be her fault? Stealing is stealing, she is the victim of a crime. I also don't like that they say she has let kids use her phone in the past as if that somehow makes it ok. I let people use my phone, that does not give them permission to go digging through the contents of it.
1st, boundaries. Doesn't anyone understand boundaries anymore? I would have never dreamed of touching a teacher's personal stuff. Or anyone else's.
2. Why was the teacher's phone out during class or anywhere anyone can get it?
C. If this were the students phone, they would be charged with sexting or something.
__________________
A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
I agree, it's stealing. And the student should be prosecuted. And teachers need to be more careful. Particularly with the message their actions convey.
I agree the student is the the one that was wrong.
However, she was stupid to leave her phone unlocked and unsupervised on her desk with a naked picture of herself on it. She works with teenagers, she should know better.
__________________
LawyerLady
I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.
This is no different than if she had left $100 in her wallet in her desk, the kid took it and he and his buddies bought booze and pot with it and got drunk and high.
Nude pictures, in and of themselves, are NOT some "evil".
She can be no more blamed for this than if they had used stolen money for a nefarious purpose.
__________________
I'm not arguing, I'm just explaining why I'm right.
Well, I could agree with you--but then we'd both be wrong.
I read another article that stated the pictures were in a password protected folder that the student hacked and then copied and distributed. The student was deliberately malicious and sounds like a psychopath. But he'll get a slap on the wrist because he's an "innocent teenager."
This is no different than if she had left $100 in her wallet in her desk, the kid took it and he and his buddies bought booze and pot with it and got drunk and high.
Nude pictures, in and of themselves, are NOT some "evil".
She can be no more blamed for this than if they had used stolen money for a nefarious purpose.
If the pictures were in a locked folder, then she did nothing wrong. This is all on the student and he should be punished by the law and expelled from the school.
Whatever happened to respecting our elders and especially teachers? We really need to go back to spankings and other punishments like back when I was a child. When I was a kid no one would have even dreamed of taking a teacher's private property off of their desk for any reason without their express permission.